Latch for concealed wall safes



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q I l I l l IL J. P. STEIN LATCH FOR CONCEALED WALL SAFES I L Lq' 4%March 31., 1953 Filed Deo. 5, 1949 y INVENTOR Jos/ob Skim mfw/W7 ATTONEYMarch 31, 1953 J. P. STEIN LATCH FOR CONCEALED WALL SAFES Filed Dec. 5,1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR m MM ATTORNEY J. P. STEIN LATCH F'ORCONCEALED WALL. SAFES March 31, 1953 l5 sheets-sheet 4 Filed Deo. 5,1949 Eq a l INVI-ENTOR. Jmga/Mmv Iliff! llllllllllllll 4rnlllllldllll'fflllllllllnlllllllllnllllivifluunlnv ATTORNEY PatentedMar. 31, Vr1953 TUN IT EAD S TAT ES PAT ENT 0 FFICE LATCH FOR 'CONCEALEDWALLSAFES' Joseph P. Stein, Los Angeles, Calif. Application December, 5,1949, Serial No. 131,196

'2 Claims. (Cl. 70-282) The invention relates to safes, and moreparticularly `to asafe `designed to be concealed in the wall ofabuilding where it may be .covered by the wall paper or otherwisecamoulaged-so as not to give the appearance of a safe.

The `primary object of the invention is to pro vide a safe which may bebuilt into the wall of a room, either cfa residence or of an ofce.building, and which may be so concealed that its .presence inthe roomwill 4not be suspected except by authorized persons.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a wall safe of.substantial construction so that it can not `be readily opened byunauthorized persons even` when its 4presence and location are known. Y

A further'object of the invention is to provide a wall safe including abody portion of knockdown construction to facilitate large scaleproduction and ready shipping.

A further object is to provide a wall safe in which a door opensoutwardly and is prevented from inward movement by a suitable ledge orabutment formed within the walls of the safe surrounding the dooropening.

A- further object of the invention is to provide a safe havinga remotelycontrolled door latching device coupled with means for automaticallyswinging the safe door to open position as soon as the door latch isreleased.

Y A further object of the invention is to provide an improvedspring-pressed or spring loaded door opening device in connection witheach of the hinges of the safe door, which spring-pressed deviceincooperation with the remotely controlled latch releasing device willcause the door to swing outwardly to open position at the will of theoperator, who may be at a position Vremote from the safe itself.

A further object of the invention is to provide a remotely controlledsolenoid-actuated latc'hing means for the safe door whereby the owner ofthe safe by merely pressing a suitable push buttom switch at anysuitable location may release the door latch, thus permitting the doorto instantaneously and automatically swing outwardly by suitablespring-actuated mechanism.

y Azfurther object is to provide an instantaneous releasemechanism'forthe door latch controlled by a spring-'pressed plungertype switch.

`4Other distinctive 'features of the invention will be apparent from aconsideration of Ithe accompanying drawings vand the following detailed.description, in which a yspeciiic.embodiment of the inventionis setforth by-way of .illustration rather than by way of limitation.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic showing-of a. `portion of a room equipped withmy improved wallsafe and showing the wiring, which controls theactuation of the safe door, extending to a position remote from thesafe;

Fig. .2 is ahorizontal sectional view showing the safe installed in aWall;

Fig. 3 is a section on .line `3---3 of Fig. 2 the safe;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the safe showing the doorpartly open;

Fig. 6 is an exploded View of the safe showing the casing and bodyportions thereof separated prior to assembly;

Fig. 'I is a vertical sectional view of the safe;

Fig. 8 is a detailhorizontal section throughpart of the wall vand aportion of the door showing one of the spring-pressed hinges with whichthe door is equipped, the door being shown open;

Fig. 9 is a similar view with the door shut;

Fig. l0 is a side elevation of a push button type quick break switchadapted for instantaneous control of the circuit in which is located`the solenoid which controls the door latch;l

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the door latch and actuating mechanismtherefor;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the -safe showingthe door latch in latched position in the safe door, portions of thelatch and operating mechanism therefor being shown in elevation;

Fig. 13 is a section ron line and Fig. 1-4 is a section on line I4--I4of Fig. l2. fr

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, A de4 notes generally the wallof a room, which may be either the wall of a residence oroi a businessoffice, which is to .be equipped with the concealed `wall safeconstituting the `present invention. .Such `a safe is vindicateddiagrammatically at B -andis adaptedvto be built into thev wall with thedoor portion thereof flush with the through la-la of Fig. 12;`

outer surface of the wall. The door of the safe may be painted over orpaper may be placed over the door, or the door of the safe may becamouiaged as a picture, or other means may be employed so that the doorof the safe will be inconspicuous. The safe door is arranged to swingoutwardly only and is normally latched in closed position. The doorlatch is remotely controlled as by means of a solenoid S concealedwithin the wall portion of the safe. The solenoid is normallyinoperative and the door catch is held in projected position by asuitable spring, but when the solenoid is actuated momentarily the dooris adapted to be swung outwardly by concealed lspring-pressed means. Thesolenoid S is included in a circuit C extending through the wall andincluding a wall outlet D into which may be inserted an instantaneoustype springpressed quick break switch E of any suitable constructionwhich, when the push button of the switch E is pressed, causes currentto flow momentarily through the solenoid S, thereby energizing the sameand retracting the door latch, allowing the door to swing outwardly byspring action. If the door of the safe has been papered over itisobvious that the paper must either be cut away prior to opening the dooror the door actuating spring should be suciently strong to cause thedoor to tear away the paper in opening. The wall outlet D is preferablyhidden in a closet or is otherwise concealed so as not to be readilyobserved or apparent to anyone other than the owner of the safe. 'I'heoutlet D may be of the so-called twist lock type disclosed in Patent No.1,771,729, and is adapted to coact with a plug which may be detachablycarried by the switch member E, or the switch member E may be remotelyconnected to the plug through suitable wires so that the switch may becarried from place to place by the owner. A detachable plug may also beincluded in the circuit at the end of the solenoid S remote from thelatch 28.

' The completed safe B as supplied to a customer and installed in thebuilding wall comprises side walls I0, II, a rear wall I2, a top wallI3, a bottom wall I4 and an outwardly swinging door portion I5 suitablyhinged to one of the side walls. The top, bottom and side walls are allsuitably recessed at their front portions to provide a ledge or abutmentI6 surrounding the door opening, thereby preventing the door from beingforced inwardly. The Walls and door of the safe are preferably metallined, as indicated at Il, and the body portion I8 (Fig. 6) includingthe top, bottom and rear walls is of knockdown construction and isadapted to be inserted in a metal casing I 9 into which the body issuitably iitted prior to installation. The safe door` I is preferablymetal encased throughout.

The body portion I8 is of knock-down construction and may be formed of aplurality of dished'sections composed of metal or other suitablematerial adapted to be interiitted one with another and secured togetherby means of suitable bolts or the like 2|. This construction permits theparts of the safe to be rapidly produced by mass production methods andinexpensively shipped in knock-down form to a place of assembly wherethe parts may be easily fitted together to form the complete safe priorto installation in a wall of the residence or office of an individualuser. The safe may be divided into any desired number of vcompartmentsby means of partitions22. vflacl'i of v the walls of 75 the safe is inthe form of a dished or hollow frame into which suitable insulatingmaterial 23, such as asbestos. rock wool, glass fiber, or the like maybe tted to render the safe substantially reproof.

The safe door I5 is provided with concealed hinges 25 which may be ofthe general type disclosed in Patent No. 2,040,279, or other suitablehinges may be employed. In accordance with my invention the hinges 25are provided with spring-pressed plunger means 26 secured to oneswinging portion of the hinge and concealed in the door I5. The functionof the spring-pressed plunger mechanism is to cause the door toinstantaneously swing to open position as soon as the door latchmechanism is released. The spring should be of suicient strength toinstantaneously open the door on the release of the door catch.

In the side wall Il opposite the side wall I0 in which the hinges 25 aremounted, I provide suitable actuating and control means 21 for thespring-pressed catch or latch 28, which catch is normally retained in anoutwardly projected position, in which it is adapted to engage asuitable recessed portion in the edge ofthe door remote from the hinges25 and to hold the door in closed position until the latch is released.

As shown in Fig. 12 the latch 28 is normally projected outwardly bymeans of a spring 29 which engages a shoulder 30 on an actuating rod `3Iconnected to latch 28 through a bell crank 32. The latch controlmechanism also includes a solenoid coil 33 which when energized by theclosing of a suitable circuit moves the latch actuating rod 3| againstthe force of the spring 29, thus releasing the door latch. Whenk thelatch is released the spring-pressed plunger mechanism associated withthe door hinges swings the door open so that access may be had to theinterior. The solenoid is only energized for an instant and as soon asthe energizing circuit is broken the spring 29 again projects the doorcatch so that when the door is closed it will be automatically retainedin latched position.

The invention has been described in detail for the purpose ofillustration but it will be obvious that numerous modifications andvariations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim:

1. For use with a concealed wall safe having an outwardly opening frontdoor which when closed is flush with the wall surface and is providedwith concealed spring means tending to urge the door outwardly whenunlatched, said safe also having wall portions extending inwardly fromthe door opening; a retractable springpressed latch for said dooradapted to engage a recessed edge portion of said door to retain thesame in closed position, said latch having unitary housed actuatingmeans adopted to be mounted in the Wall portion of the safe and adaptedto extend transversely to the plane of the door opening, comprising atubular housing adapted to fit in said wall portion and adapted toextend longitudinally therethrough, a solenoid mounted within saidhousing and having an elongated armature core slidable lengthwisetherein, and means, including a bell crank, connecting said armaturecore with said latch, a spring within said housing constantly urging thecore in a direction to project the latch so as to retain the door inlatched position, and

electricalineans,including an accessible externalswitch, for energizingsaid solenoid to momentarily retract the latch against the force of saidspring, thereby permitting the door to open, after which the latch isagain projected by the latch spring to move the latch into position toagain retain the door when the same is closed.

2. Latch actuating mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein theelectrical connection for the solenoid includes a detachable plugincluded in the circuit at the end of the solenoid remote 10 from thelatch.

JOSEPH P. STEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 15- iileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Huetter Dec. 5, 1882 Baum June18, 1889 Corry Aug. 19, 1890 Rider et al Aug. 25, 1896 Green et a1. Apr.3, 1906 Carpenter May 4, 1915 Glass Aug. 21, 1928 Carlson July 4, 1933Wolters Dec. 5, 1933 Macagno Feb. 14, 1939 McNeely Aug. 15, 1939 QueenJune 27, 1950

